War of Valentine
by missingvictorious
Summary: Cat Valentine is caught in the unlikeliest of love triangles. This means war - a War of Valentine! Who will prove most romantic? What's so enticing about blinking all the time? And is there such a thing as too much bibble? Cat's about to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything from the world of Victorious. Only myself - and just barely.**

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Jade looked over at Tori as she walked into school. And grinned.

Beck blinked. "Why are you smiling at Tori?" Beck asked cautiously, almost frightened of the answer. Heaven forbid if Jade had set up some kind of booby trap against her. The first – and last – time she'd done that, Beck had been scarred for weeks, and he had just been a bystander. Rumor held that the fiasco had made Sinjin the way he was. "Did you…?"

"Nah," she chuckled. "I thought I'd never see the day Vega found something large enough to hide her overinflated head. She almost looks better this way."

Tori Vega stumbled into school with an enormous pink gift basket shielding her face. Trina strode in before her, completely oblivious to her younger sister's struggles.

"Someone help me carry this before I drop it!" Tori cried, and instantly André was at her side. "Thank you," she sighed, guiding both André and the basket to her locker. "Trina wouldn't even help me get it in the trunk! Wait – can you hold it for a second, thanks – "

"Hold on Tori, I don't – " And suddenly André found himself holding an enormous pink gift basket.

Tori grappled with her backpack, and pulled out a foldable table, snapping it in place and setting it in front of her. Beck blinked again – who carried around foldable tables? – as André dropped the basket, looking relieved.

By now Robbie, Beck, Jade, and André were all crowded around Tori's locker, staring down at the large present. Beck frowned at the pink offering, Jade scanning it disinterestedly beside him, and gave Tori an inquiring look.

"Is this about the history exam you flunked? Because Mrs. Yonders isn't really a candy and flowers kind of teacher," Robbie said helpfully, trying to sniff at a rose. Tori swatted his hand away.

"No! Wait. What. Did you look at my test score? How?!"

"Well, Robster was snooping through – " Robbie threw a hand over Rex's mouth, eyes wide. Tori just shook her head.

"Aaaaanyways, I made this basket for a special reason. I'm going to ask out a certain someone," Tori said, wiggling her eyebrows. André raised his in turn.

"Don't do that," Jade advised her.

"I – do what?" Tori turned towards her, confused. "This?" Tori's eyebrows did the worm.

"Yes, that. And ask someone out. It's sure to end in pain if you're involved," Jade drawled.

Tori frowned at her. "Anyways! Guess who's the lucky person?"

"It's not Cat, is it?" André poked an enormous bag of bibble in the middle of the basket.

"Righto!" Tori beamed. She looked as if she were expecting applause. "Lucky guess. What do you think? …Guys…?" Her friends had just stared at her in shocked silence, before performing their individual reactions.

Jade laughed sadistically. "I was right. So much pain."

Beck blinked.

André shook his head. "Aw man, chiz is about to go down."

And Robbie dropped Rex. "What – you – what! You can't do that! You – you're not allowed to like Cat! That's my job!" He looked seriously upset. Jade gave him a look; his emphatic statement had been rather territorial.

"Yeah, Tori, since when have you liked girls?" André raised his other eyebrow. "Actually…"

"This explains a lot," Jade and Beck mused simultaneously.

"Well, I've liked her for a while, actually. She's so sweet, and adorable," Tori sighed, the others surprised by the passion at the edges of her eyes. "I just…I don't know. Scared, maybe? Yeah, ok, so maybe it hasn't been the most _obvious _thing, that I liked Cat, but I'm an actress, guys, remember?"

"Not a very good one," Jade commented. Tori ignored this.

"And, well, sorry, Robbie, but you didn't look like you were going to make a move any time soon, so last night I told myself, Tori, you're going to ask Cat out tomorrow, and you're not going to wimp out again!"

"Again?" André asked.

"So I made her a gift basket full of cotton candy, roses, and bibble, and I'm asking her out, Robbie, like it or not." She fixed the puppeteer with a determined look. For once, Robbie didn't back down from such a fierce stare. His love was on the line here.

"Cat's not going to say yes," he growled. "And that's not even fair! You know – you've known – I mean, I think it's pretty obvious that I have a crush on her!"

"That's for her to decide," Tori shrugged. "And all's fair in love and war, Robbie. We'll still be friends, right?" She stuck out a hand. "May the best man win."

Robbie pumped it. "I plan on it!"

André, Beck, and Jade exchanged looks. The former two looked worried, while Jade just looked amused.

The front door swung open, and a redhead bounced in.

"Cat!" Robbie and Tori yelled at the same time, moving forward. Both of them stopped immediately as they gave the person a second look.

"Hi!" A male teenager skipped over to them, about the same age as the rest of the gang. He was sporting a brightly colored red wig, a pink shirt, and a white skirt that looked, well, really wrong on him. "Cat told me to tell you to tell her teachers that she's at a doctor's appointment and won't be at school at all today! She also wants you to know she says 'Hiiiiiiii!'" He waved excitedly, his voice oozing with high pitched false happiness.

Jade snapped a picture, laughing, and the guy winced.

"Who…are you?" Tori asked.

"I'm Messenger Cat! I give you guys messages from her when she's away!" he said brightly.

"Why didn't she just text us?" Robbie asked. "Or, y'know, post it on the Slap or something? Or write a note?" Once again, Cat was full of surprises.

Messenger Cat sighed, dropping his voice to a regular octave and leaning in as if to share an important secret. "I don't know, but she pays me five bucks per message for each of you guys. I'm not asking any questions." He straightened, putting on a cheerful smile. "Byeeeeeeee!"

And he was gone.

"Aw man!" Tori cried, staring miserably at her gift basket. "I dragged this all the way to school for nothing?"

Robbie laughed at her despair, quickly transitioning into a cough when Tori glared at him. "Just stash it in the janitor's closet, I won't touch it."

"Do you swear on Rex's life?"

"Yepperoni."

"I take offense to that," Rex chimed in. Robbie had finally picked him up off the floor.

"Thanks, Robbie!" Tori said brightly. "For…not sabotaging my things, I guess. To the janitor's closet!" Tori yelled, André at her side again.

And they were gone.

"You going to let Tori take your girl like that?" Beck joked, although a degree of concern was hidden in his eyes.

"Yeah, right!" Robbie scoffed, already planning out the contents of his own gift basket. "Cat won't know what hit her!"

The war for Ms. Valentine's heart had officially begun, and unlike his brief stint with magic – or comedy camp – Robbie had decided he was _not _going to walk away a loser.

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**In character or out? Trying too hard or too little? Input much appreciated. That can be achieved with the wonderful review button :D**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Tori was struggling with a new gift basket, and recounting to André how the cranky janitor had somehow managed to drool all over the old one.

"And then he managed to _knock it over_, and he got drool covered cotton candy all over the floor. Do you know how fun it is to step in wet cotton candy? Do you?"

"I'm guessing not so fun."

"Exactly! And then he told me to clean up the mess, but the mops were locked up with a freaking chain, and when I asked him how to unlock it he said 'Just use your janitor's key, I lost mine.' And _then_ when I told him I wasn't a janitor, he went all…all Jade on me and said, 'Really? 'Cause you look like one.' And _then_ I asked him where Luther was, but he was out sick, so I had to find the janitor who gave me a chocolate mop, and he _did_ have a janitor's key."

André, who was looking flustered at Tori's rant, asked, "Why are there so many janitors at this school, anyways?"

"Lane told me there's twelve of them, but they have a pretty chill closet. The guy felt bad for me, though, so he cleaned it all up himself and gave me another mop. A chocolate one. So it's all good. I think. Life is hard!"

"That was quite the angsty monologue, Vega," Jade noted. "I think she's got cramps again," the girl confided to André, who nodded in confused agreement.

"What? No!" she spluttered. "Why does everyone have to think I've got cramps? I don't have cramps!" she cried, attracting the attention of a few perplexed bystanders.

"Thanks for the information," Sinjin called from the staircase, giving her a thumbs up. Tori blinked.

"I'm just nervous," she sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. She began banging her head on her locker.

"Yeah, this whole thing is pretty freaky," Beck said behind her. "Like, boom, out of nowhere. I haven't even seen Rob today, and yesterday he was zipping all over the place. I think you finally got him to think about being direct with Cat."

"Are you guys talking about cats? I know a lot about cats," a voice announced. A voice that Tori had definitely not been prepared for.

Tori made an inexplicable noise of anguish, jumping away from her locker and almost dropping the basket. The cranky janitor's face popped into her mind.

"Cat! Hey hey hey," she said, barely aware of her own words. André grinned to himself. "I mean, hey."

"Ooh, bibble! Can I have some?!" Cat squealed, already reaching for the candy. Tori found herself almost swatting Cat's hand away. "Well, you see, uh," Tori chuckled uneasily.

"Hold on!" Robbie yelled, rounding the corner, and once again the gift basket almost made a crash landing. He was pulling a ratty old wagon behind him, and – surprise, surprise – a white gift basket the same size as Tori's, although with different contents.

"Very original, Robbie. Don't hold back that romantic beast," Jade said, to which Robbie scowled.

"What's going on?" Cat asked, brow furrowed. No one answered, the gang just exchanging looks.

Tori cleared her throat first. "Um, Robbie and I have something to ask you, Cat." In her peripherals she could see André and Beck subtly moving away from the scene. Jade looked like she was going to stay, and was in fact searching her jeans for her PearPhone – probably to film the upcoming disaster – but Beck not-so-subtly yanked her away, Jade muttering under her breath. Cat noticed this. "Wait! Where are you guys going?"

"Uh, we have to…uh…use the bathroom," André stammered.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yes, Cat. All three of us. At the exact same time. Because that's not disgusting or suspicious _at all_."

"Okay!" Cat said, smiling at them. "Have fun! Try not to fall into the toilet. I did that once. It was not fun…actually, it was really cold," she said, frowning at the memory.

Jade blinked. Beck took this opportunity to shove André and Jade into an adjacent hallway.

"So, um, Cat…" Robbie began.

"Wait! Let me guess!" Cat cried. "Is it Christmas?"

"Ah, no," Robbie said, looking flustered.

"Valentine's day?"

"No."

"_Cat's_ day?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Is it my birthday?!"

"No…wait, wouldn't you know if it was – "

"Okay!" Tori interjected, holding back a laugh. "Robbie and I…well…just read the cards."

"Kay kay." She grabbed Robbie's first. It was an enormous flashing card, with blinking hearts on the front. Cat opened it and the card began to sing, "I still think you're swell…"

"Did you make that yourself?" Tori asked Robbie, mesmerized by the repetitive glow. It was practically flashing to the beat of the song. Tori frowned at it, dismayed. How was her card supposed to compete with this freaking Hallmark masterpiece?

"Yepperdidoodah," Robbie said, swaying back and forth nervously, his eyes never leaving Cat's face. As she read on, her eyes opened wider, her jaw slackening further with every word. Neither Tori or Robbie could tell what to feel about it.

"Oh my Jupiter boots," Cat whispered. Was it awe or a muted horror? Cat shoved some bibble into her mouth, then seized Tori's card.

"She's so cute when she's stress eating," Robbie sighed next to her. Tori glared at him. "Um, I mean, is this going well? I don't think this is going well." Tori just banged her head against a locker again. Her card was basically a cardstock letter folded in half and coated with glitter.

Cat's jaw had gone slack again mid-chew as her eyes progressed down Tori's card. She mumbled something but neither courter could hear it through the wad of bibble in her mouth.

"Cat, I'm going to need you to swallow the bibble," Tori said.

Cat did as she was told, then carefully replaced the cards in their respective baskets. Her face changed dramatically from distraught to carefully air headed. "Heh, that was really sweet," she giggled, staring at the floor. The change was not lost on her two friends.

"So?" Robbie prompted. "Have you…Who do you…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"Ping!" Cat said suddenly, looking up. Tori and Robbie stared, and she laughed nervously. "Oh-did-you-guys-hear-that-it-must-have-been-my-ph one-Jade-and-André-and-Beck-probably-fell-in-the-t oilet-and-I-need-to-rescue-them-'kay-bye!" Cat said all in one breath, grabbing two sacks of bibble before screaming and running down the hallway.

"Well, that went…actually, that went better than I expected. It was very Cat," Tori said sagely, staring at the gift basket which was now one sack of bibble lighter.

"Why does she keep running away from me?!" Robbie wailed dramatically.

The first bell cut off his statement, and Tori was seriously considering skipping class to chase after Cat, but Robbie pulled at her elbow. "Think we should give her some time?"

"You just don't want to ditch class because you're such a nerd," Tori teased.

Robbie nodded. "Cat's just going to run away if we come on too strong! And I know a lot about being strong," he added, flexing his muscles unnecessarily.

Tori just stared at him. Robbie shrugged. "I don't want her running away again…Well, not in the hallways at least. She's stuck with us in Sikowitz's..." Robbie said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, ok, I get it," Tori sighed, and they trudged to class. Robbie was right, second block they would have Sikowitz's – it would be the first class either she or Robbie would share with Cat all day. Tori had a feeling things would get very interesting very quickly.

Robbie knew Tori would try to sit next to Cat first, so he ran through the hallways like a heat-seeking missile, causing much collateral with his heavy wagon. Robbie was a panting, sweaty mess by the time he reached the door. He looked in through the door's window. Sikowitz was passed out on stage. Great, just great.

"You gotta work out, Rob," Rex told him. "You're all flabby and chiz."

Robbie groaned. "Shut up, Rex."

Tori flew in behind him, looking disappointed, and Robbie allowed himself a smug grin before adjusting his wagon.

The other students filed into the hallway behind them, most standing around awkwardly and avoiding eye contact. Beck and André were all for ditching class, but Jade began ranting about the private conversation she was supposed to have with Sikowitz today. Six raw screams, two dented pairs of scissors, and one broken window pane later, the balding teacher had come to, sulking quietly over the new hole in his whiteboard.

And yet Cat had still not arrived.

"Time for another acting exercise! To the stage…" Sikowitz scanned the room. "Jade, Beck, André, Tori, Robbie, and Cat. Hop to it!"

Tori heard some kid behind her mumble about 'typical Sikowitz, always snubbing the quiet kids' but she was too confused by his comment. Robbie voiced her thoughts. "Um, Cat's not here…?"

"Of course she is!" Sikowitz said cheerily, and pointed at the back of the room. "Red hair and everything."

Her five friends glanced back, comical expressions of disbelief sparking on their faces.

"Hiiiii!" Messenger Cat had put on his wig at some point in the back of the classroom. Apparently he was not any better at pretending to be Cat than he had been in the first place. His peers seemed unperturbed by the action for the most part. Actually, they seemed unperturbed by just about anything that happened in Sikowitz's.

"I'm waiting," Sikowitz said pointedly.

André began laughing, turning to Tori and Robbie. "You guys must've really freaked her out."

Tori scooped one of Jade's pairs of scissors off the floor and stalked to the back of the classroom. "Where's Cat?" She demanded, holding Messenger Cat at scissor-point.

"Eep!" Messenger Cat squealed, which the most realistic Cat-like thing he'd done yet.

"Those are _my_ scissors, Vega," Jade said over her shoulder, snapping the scissors out of Tori's hand and twirling them around her finger, before propping them beneath the boy's chin. "Now, where's Cat?"

"Hey, I don't know! I'm just the messenger. The Messenger Cat!" he confessed. "She shoved this note into my hand when I walked out of the bathroom. Here, I'll read it to you," he said, fumbling for his pants pocket. Jade nodded in approval, Sikowitz watching interestedly with a dawning sense of recognition.

"Please pretend to be me in Sikowitz's today because my friends are crazy. Also I have to do some private Cat thinking. I'll be back at lunch with Mr. Longneck to protect me." The boy looked up, confused. "By the way, anyone know who - "

"Keep reading," the five friends chorused at the same time.

"That's it."

"There's something written on the back, too," Robbie noted.

"Oh, huh, I didn't know," Messenger Cat said, flipping it over. "P.S.: I think I will be hiding in the janitor's closet if you need me. Do not tell anyone. At all. Period. I will send Jade after you if they find me. Signed, Cat Valentine." The boy blinked. "Oops."

Tori and Robbie exchanged a brief, dangerous look, then bolted for the door. They stopped, almost colliding into each other, when Sikowitz threw Jade's other pair of scissors into the door as the owner of the blades protested furiously.

"Wow, that is some really impressive aim for a guy hopped up on coconut juice," Beck remarked.

"I made my own little short film where I played a washed out baseball star in '98," the said teacher shrugged. "Sikowitz Strikes Out? No? Doesn't ring a bell? Anyways," he said, noting that Tori and Robbie were trying to quietly sneak out of his classroom. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, we have to go…" Robbie began.

"Fall into the toilet together," Tori finished, Robbie fixing her with a mortified look. Rex opened his mouth to say something snarky, but Robbie threw him into the far corner of the classroom.

"Oh, well, in that case you're free to go," Sikowitz nodded.

The two rushed out. André, Beck, and Jade were quick to follow, the latter extracting her scissors from the door as she yelled similar excuses behind her.

"Now, on with our lesson," Sikowitz began, his classroom now five students emptier. He opened his mouth to say something, but glanced at Messenger Cat and began subconsciously rubbing the top of his head. "By the way, could I borrow that wig…?"

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**Thanks for all the feedback! Sorry for lack of updates; I'm a highly distractable person. Feel free to chastise me for it. I'll try to update every three days or so.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Cat!" Robbie cried, running down the hallway. From the looks of it he was prepared to ram his shoulder into the door of the janitor's closet kung-fu style.

"Hold it, bud," Beck said, pulling him back.

"Didn't you say we should 'give her time?'" Tori said, providing air quotes.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

"I totally got this," André said, rolling up his sleeves. "Cat?" He said, turning the knob and stepping inside. Mere seconds later…

"Hey, who are – Ow! What? Holy chiz! …I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" André's shouting was clearly audible, and a mop came flying out of the room, shoving open the half-closed door. André was quick to follow.

"And you keep your cleaning supplies!" He shouted, before tossing the mop back into the janitor's closet and shutting the door loudly. "Yeah, Cat's not in there."

"The creepy cranky janitor probably scared her away," Tori frowned.

"Again? Looks like we're going to have to find somewhere else to make out for the next few days," Beck lamented quietly. Jade's eyes widened. Twelve oaths, five death threats, and three snapped brooms later, the janitor's closet was free for 'student use' once again.

"So if she's not in there…where could she be?" Robbie asked himself, peering through the thin window of the closet door.

"Oh, she cycled home." Sinjin's sudden presence startled him, and Robbie let out a scream – a manly scream – as he flailed defensively against the door.

It turned out that Cat had passed out in the middle of the hallway, unable to handle the shock from the sudden appearance of the creepy janitor. Sinjin reflected quite remorsefully on how he had been nanoseconds away from administering CPR, when all of a sudden Cat had woken up. "It was a true miracle," he nodded. The gang exchanged looks and shuddered. "Now we know the surefire way to revive someone who's fainted." Jade laughed. "Maybe I should knock out Vega sometime?"

The victim in question regarded her with obvious bewilderment. Jade only grinned as André probed Sinjin for more information.

"Well, as soon as Cat sat up she started screaming," Sinjin continued. "Not sure why. But Lane came over, and I had to explain how I almost saved her life, and then he told her to take the rest of the day off," Sinjin said, before walking away abruptly.

"The _rest_ of the day off? But…" André patted the distraught Tori on her shoulder. "It's for the best."

"Yeah, you guys should probably just leave her alone until she shows up at school tomorrow. Give her time to think," Beck said, who was consoling Robbie in a similar manner. Both had already begun to reach for their PearPhones.

"If I hear of either of you contacting her before the Hollywood Arts doors open tomorrow, you'll be sorry," Jade added, mustering one of her most threatening glares. "I'll make sure, too. The only exception if she talks to either of you first, but don't hold your breath on that."

"Geez, guys, we're not that bad…well…actually…yeah, alright," Tori conceded, and Robbie followed with a sign of assent, their smartphones disappearing for the moment.

The bell rang, indicating the end of second block. Beck raised his brows in surprise. "Wow, that fast?"

"We spent most of our time watching Jade harass the janitor," André reminded him. And off to class they went.

Jade had just downed a bowl of cereal when her phone spasmed in her pocket. It was Cat. Of course. Who else would be calling her in the early hours of the A.M.?

"What do you want?"

"Please Jade come pick me up one of my bike tires is flat and I'm too lazy to walk to school and you live closest to me I'll give you cupcakes so pick me up pleeeeeease?" Jade winced and held her phone a little further from her ear. "Can't you get Beck to drive you? I'm busy…enjoying my morning." she said flatly.

"Pleeeeeeease? I've got waffles?"

Jade arrived at Cat's in ten minutes, complaining all the while. The redhead grinned, thanking her profusely and handing her a plastic container of breakfast food as she flounced into the passenger seat. They quickly neared the school.

"Jade?"

"What."

"Park here," she said, indicating a spot that most people didn't bother to frequent. Students preferred the main road to Hollywood Arts, but this one was still within eyeshot of the high school. "I need to talk to you."

Jade began arguing – it was her natural impulse – but Cat broke her down with shouts of 'It's really important!' and 'If you ignore me I'm going to cry!' Cat smirked as Jade braked the car; she knew Jade absolutely despised anyone or anything sniveling near her.

"School starts in fifteen minutes," Jade pointed out.

"I know, it'll be quick, okay?" Cat said seriously, pulling off a mature look for all of three seconds. "…Tell me what to do about Tori and Robbie!" she cried, looking up desperately. "I don't – they can't – this is so hard!"

"If I was you, Cat, and the two people after me were almost anyone other than those freaks, I'd be flattered," Jade commented dryly.

"Help me decide what to do!" Cat pleaded.

"Well, if it helps, anyone with a functioning brain can see Robbie's head over heels for you. I don't know about Vega though. I wouldn't want to."

"No, you don't understand! I know that! I'm always pretending I don't know what Robbie means when he sings sweet songs to me, or tries to play pirates, or when he even _kisses_ me – "

"Oh yeah, he was really excited about that, even though you were a gank and ran away."

"Hey! I had a reason!" Cat said, looking at her crossly and pouting.

Jade backed off. "Sorry…" she said, forcing the word from her mouth. "So you were saying?"

"And I figured out that Tori kissed Danny only because she was jealous of me –"

"Whoaaaaa there, that was ages ago. How did you figure _that_ out? How would you even _come to that conclusion_?"

"Stop interrupting! Well, anyways! I don't – I can't go out with either of them because they're my friends! Don't you get it, Jade?" Cat said, sounding very distressed. "I don't want to ruin everything! I don't want to end up like you and Beck, always fighting and making people pass out! Um…sorry," she added as an afterthought, regarding Jade fearfully. For once, Jade ignored the insult, as she was thinking about Cat's dilemma.

"Cat…not all couples are as…dysfunctional as we are, you know that. You don't have to worry about it."

"Yeah...but so many things could go wrong, Jade…"

"Haven't you heard the saying 'fortune favors the bold'? You've got to take the risk, Cat, you can't string them along for too long, or they won't get over you. You'll hurt them. And that's one kind of emotional pain I can't laugh at. Well, I will at first, but not for _too_ long."

"Well I don't want to hurt them! But I can't date either of them, because I'll hurt them then too! All of my relationships have ended badly this year – just look at Danny and Evan. I can't risk that with a friend. I can't!"

This was the most serious Jade had ever seen her, barring test-taking and artistic performances.

"Tell me what to do," Cat begged again.

"I can't do that, Cat. As much as I'd enjoy the opportunity to mess up your life," she began, but soon she was very easily persuaded into taking action. "Fine. Give me your phone. You're clear this weekend, right?" Cat nodded obliviously. "We should plan another sleepover," she mused.

"Don't count on it." Jade tapped away, smirking with satisfaction as she sent off two messages. The phone pinged twice almost instantly, Cat repeating the sounds beside her.

"Thank you so so so _so _much!" Cat squealed, her attitude brightening instantly before suspicion returned. "Wait, what did you do?"

"Nothing big. First, they're absolutely not to bug you until Saturday about anything romantic. So for at least three days you'll all be a happy, freaky set of friends," she drawled sarcastically. Cat squealed gleefully, and attempted to hug Jade. The short-tempered girl shouted indignantly and pushed her away. "You didn't let me finish. I just set up your weekend, too. Tori's taking you out to lunch on Saturday and Rob's having a dinner date with you later that day." Jade completed the statement with a delirious grin.

Cat's jaw practically popped off her skull. "JADE! Did you hear _anything_ I _just said_?!" She instantly looked as if she were about to cry, which was the way this whole situation had started in the first place.

"I heard. You wanted me to solve your problem. Look, you've got to do _something_. Might as well see how this turns out. You should be thanking me, if these two treat you right you practically eat for free the whole day." This pleasant thought did not console Cat in the slightest. "And if you're _that _upset about it…I suppose you could _cancel_."

"I can't do that!"

"Good. You'll see," Jade said, patting Cat on the head. "We should head inside. Beck's got my coffee and I bet it's…warm by now, ew."

"You owe me," Cat said furiously. Jade restrained from smiling; Cat was funny when she got worked up about something.

"Hey, I'm driving you home, isn't that enough?"

"No, I'll just get my roommate to drive me back on her motorcycle."

"Oh, ok – wait, what? She could have – you – you set me up! Just so you could talk to me!"

"Darn right I did!" Cat shouted, and stormed out of the car. "I hope your coffee's cold!"

Jade feigned a hurt face before the door slammed, and grinned to herself before cracking open Cat's breakfast case.

"And I'll take that!" Cat had returned only to yank open the driver's seat door and steal the container as an afterthought from a very surprised – and slightly impressed – Jade West.

"My waffles…"


End file.
